A Simple Guide on Foreign Payments to The Philippines

Gone were the days when transferring money to the Philippines can only be done from one city to another, or one province to the other. Now, with the ever changing global remittance climate, foreign payments are flowing into the country every minute, whether it is a payment for a business service or remittance for a loved one.

Understanding Incoming Foreign Payments

You might be wondering where the bulk of the foreign payments to the Philippines come from. There are a few common scenarios. A popular scenario is the fact that there are many Filipino migrant workers working in other countries around the world who are sending money to their loved ones in the Philippines. In the US alone, the Commission of Filipino Overseas has recorded a total of 3.536 million Filipino workers which makes it the number 1 foreign destination for Filipinos overseas. Saudi Arabia comes next with 1.028 million Filipino overseas.

Another big source of incoming foreign payments coming in to the Philippines is the existence of online job opportunities like web design, content writing and online tutoring. These jobs are paid through various remittance channels, counting formal channels that are sent through banks or online remittance services as well as those sent via informal channels through the help of friends and relatives.

Now, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country’s central bank, has encouraged sending through formal channels instead of just relying upon relatives and friends to bring home the money by hand to distribute to the supposed recipients.

Use Swift Codes and Bank Routing Numbers for Wire Transfers

For those of you sending money from abroad to the Philippines through a specific local bank account in the country, using the list of routing numbers or swift codes will help facilitate your wire transfer transactions. The swift code is a code that represents the particular bank with which you will send the amount while the routing numbers will help route funds to the bank’s local branch where the recipient’s account is located. Confusion may come with these numbers as they are often used interchangeably. Make sure you know your recipient’s bank swift code and routing number so that you can make a successful transfer.

The Use of Online Money Transfer Services

Today, many foreign payments to the Philippines arrive in the country through the help of money transfer services. Take time out to review these websites before you use them to send foreign payments to the Philippines. Fees vary from one to the other and it will also be best to go for one with competitive currency exchange rates.